QB Jack Tuttle has 'never experienced anything like' the culture at Michigan, says Kirk Campbell is 'one of the brightest minds in college football'

Michigan Wolverines football graduate quarterback Jack Tuttle signed with Utah out of high school and spent one season there. He played at Indiana for three seasons, before finding his new home at Michigan in 2023.

While Tuttle is grateful he’s now in Ann Arbor, he wishes he joined the Wolverines sooner.

“For me, whatever I want to do in my future, it was just the best decision for me,” Tuttle said on Champions Circle’s ‘The L.A.B.’ podcast with host Jake Butt. “And just the people, man. The people are so up front to me, being with [former head] Coach [Jim] Harbaugh, [head] Coach [Sherrone] Moore, [offensive coordinator and quarterbacks] Coach Kirk Campbell, really just everyone here has pushed me to the next level when it comes to football knowledge, stepping up my game physically, everything about it. 

“Man, I wish I would’ve come here out of high school. I’m that sure about it.”

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The 6-foot-4, 211-pound Tuttle was on winning teams in the past. Utah won nine games in his lone season in Salt Lake City. Indiana won eight games in 2019 for the first time since 1993, then nearly made the Big Ten championship game the following season.

But Michigan is different. Not only did the Maize and Blue win the national championship by taking on all comers and finishing 15-0, but the culture was something unlike Tuttle had seen.

“Honestly, it was different because I never experienced anything like it before,” Tuttle said. “The amount of accountability was unbelievable. And especially from the first place I went to and really the second place I went to, it was just so far up the totem poll, with accountability, responsibility, with who you are, character.

“Walking in that building, here’s what you’re going to be, and if you’re anything else, you’re probably going to get left behind. And I don’t know if you felt that too when you were there, but it’s just you gotta be a Michigan man. That’s what Michigan is about — it’s a standard, and you better rise to it.

“My family was stoked about it, to be honest, because that’s what they wanted for me all along. That’s what we’re searching for. I was super excited, and so were they. Out of high school, man, wish I would’ve came to Michigan, but I’m just so blessed to be here now.”

Sherrone Moore is ‘unbelievable’

Moore has transitioned to a new role as head coach, after serving as offensive coordinator and line coach, taking over for Harbaugh.

“Absolutely unbelievable, just like he was last year,” Tuttle said of Moore. “Those times when people were counting us out and Coach Harbaugh is gonna be gone, he’s gonna be out [with a suspension] — and Michigan is gonna fold. Nope, we had Coach Moore right there, ready to step in, ready to lead and be that guy for the team to lean on and to just charge into any situation and come out victorious.

“He’s been the same guy throughout this year, kept the same standard in our program, and it’s beautiful to see. There’s no fall-off from that.”

Kirk Campbell is ‘one of the brightest minds in college football’

Tuttle has played for several different highly-regarded coaches beyond his time at Michigan, including Kalen DeBoer, who was the offensive coordinator at Indiana in 2019. DeBoer went on to win nine games in his second season at Fresno State in 2021, before going 25-3 with a national championship game appearance (a loss to Michigan) in two years at Washington. He’s now the new head man at Alabama, replacing the retired Nick Saban.

“I’ve been in a lot of different systems with a lot of different people,” Tuttle said. “I’ve been in a multiple offense, an air-raid offense. Each offense is so different from each other, but you can take little nuggets from each one that might help you in the other one. Different terms or terminology that kinda translate.

“Going through the years, even now with Coach Kirk Campbell, all of it’s helped me prepare for this year. We talk about it in the quarterback meetings sometimes. Some things or terms that I brought from my past, Coach Kirk’s like, ‘Ah, it’s a good point.’ And he uses them sometimes now.

“There are so many things that Coach Kirk Campbell has taught me throughout the past year and a half, two years here. It’s just blown my mind, and it’s changed the way I’ve looked at football.”

Tuttle said Campbell, who took over as offensive coordinator this offseason, is up there with the best offensive minds he’s seen.

“I would put it like this: Just the way he structures an offense, how detailed Coach Kirk is in everything he does,” Tuttle said of why he’s so impressive. “Man, if it’s one yard off, it’s not right. The play’s not gonna pan out the way we want it to if it’s just not detailed right.

“The way he structures, shows different looks, puts it into another look. Defenses really just scrambled last year, and they’re going to continue to scramble because they don’t know what’s gonna happen.

“He really is one of the brightest minds in college football, if you ask me right now.”

The details matter at Michigan under Moore, Campbell and the rest of the staff, and Tuttle believes honing in on those helped the Wolverines win it all last season.

“That’s what the difference was last year for us in finishing the semifinal and winning the national championship, was Coach Moore and Coach Campbell, the whole offensive staff coming together and looking at that stuff and making sure the details were just spot-on and everything was correct,” Tuttle explained.

“We showed different looks, the defense truly didn’t know what we were doing sometimes and were scrambling, trying to communicate. Boom, we run a play, [senior running back] Donovan [Edwards] spits out the backside and scores in the national championship game because they’re in the wrong gaps, they don’t know what’s coming.

“It’s actually unbelievable to see. It’s beautiful. It’s literally picture perfect in football when you see that stuff. It’s art.”